Once more… isang bandila

I don’t think you get it. the video was in itself a parody. They’re rock musicians and they’re not supposed to be in the news room. But they have a stand, which is the most important thing. They’re there to build political interest in a group of people who’d otherwise not be listening. (i.e. the kids) They serve as a bridge.

i think the lyrics are appropriate. how interesting would it be to hear details on how to solve the country’s problems one by one in the song. they’re not politicians. they have views, I’m sure. And they chose to spare the world of it, opting for a more general truth. besides, spoon feeding the kids (or anyone, for that matter) would be dangerous, don’t you think? I’m betting Lennon knew that in writing “Imagine”.

Here’s my reply:

Yeah.. it seemed to be a parody and they’re commendable for at least trying to do something like that but it’s not as effective as it could have been. Remember how rage against the machine did a parody of a game show for “sleep now in the fire”? That was effective and almost eerie. Or how Korn did a video where they smashed a record store, trying to explain the monopoly in the music industry. In the words of a band manager friend, “madaming angas yung video ng Rivermaya” (which by itself is not so bad if they weren’t attempting to deliver a political message.)

Yes rivermaya has a stand or is at least are trying to articulate a stand. I realize this is perhaps their first foray into something political. I do hope that they would also mature in this aspect. No, they don’t have to be preachy about their political views (though they do sound preachy in some parts of the song). A firmer stand next time wouldn’t hurt either. Since it was their first “socially oriented” and political song, I somehow understand why some parts of the video may appear a bit contrived and some parts kinda mixed up.

They don’t have to be politicians but they can talk about social problems. They don’t have to spoonfeed their audience, I agree. But they can go deeper than what is usually found in the textbooks. Some bands like ASIN have done that in the past. I also think it’s not entirely the band’s fault.

Again, not to disparage the band, there is still something admirable in what they did pero bitin lang and my hope is that this would not be their last attempt.

I have yet to listen to their whole album isang ugat, isang dugo. I find it fitting that they would pay tribute to some local bands who were there before the whole band explosion in the 90’s. Not many remember Ethnic Faces, Indentity Crisis, Wuds, Urban Bandits and Binky Lampano and Dean’s December. It would be good to reintroduce them to a new generation of rockers. I was in grade six when I first heard some of these groups.

Yeah, Lennon was practically describing a classless society, in so many words, in the song “Imagine”. No possessions, no countries, no religion, a brotherhood of men. Others might even call that communism.